The + 1 news gives us the opportunity to celebrate our employees successes, achievements and initiatives at English Lakes Hotels. The spring Edition; hot of the press this week, includes photographs of the Commercial Department’s ‘back to school’ training day and the news of a new conservation project championed by Lancaster House Hotel as well as many other projects that English Lakes Hotels have been getting up to over the past few months.
Plus One
04/20/2010
Charity 3 Peaks Challenge: Help! It's taken over my life!
English Lakes Hotels Charity 3 Peaks Challenge
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It's a lovely day outside today. The daffodils have finally shown their face, the sun is shining, and there are rather too many people out there showing their mid-riffs who really shouldn't be, if you know what I mean! Actually, fair play to them, why shouldn't they? We're emerging from one of the longest winters in recent history so I say let them hang their pierced pot-bellies out. Show the world that you like one too many chippy teas a week. I might even join them! But on the basis that its still only 9 degrees, I think I'll keep my stomach well and truly hidden, and tucked up nice and warm for the time being. Besides, there's no six-pack there I can tell you. More like a keg of smooth to be honest.
I will say though
that this walking malarkey is causing the pounds to drop off. However,
just not in the right places I would have ideally liked (had I been
given the choice, or got all "Pally" with a plastic surgeon). My legs
have always been top of the list to go in to a "Room 101
for unwanted limbs". They've never carried too much weight, be it
muscle or fat, and now that the latter form of tissue has now completely
disappeared from my lower torso, my legs look like they belong to an
anorexic turkey, after a knee-op! And as for trying to get a suntan on
them - forget it! My upper-body can burn like a cheap sofa at a
pyromaniac's convention. But I can drench my legs in Olive oil, Carrot
Oil, even Crude Oil, and they still resemble one of those colours on
your Dulux paint chart which is neither White nor Magnolia. (I think the
current trendy name for it is "Frosted Dawn" if you were interested in
decorating sometime later this month, which I should, but I've kinda got
too much on my plate at the moment)
Anyway,
I find myself in the familiar and frustrating (to you) territory of
waffling again, and about a subject that none of you probably want to
hear about or visualise come to think if it, so let's get back on the
straight and narrow shall we?
So, this
sudden but very welcome change in the climate has brought about a new
vigour to the training effort. In the last 6 days I have completed 4
walks and been to the gym twice! Had you said that to me 12 months ago I
would have probably stared at you for a while and then asked you what
kind of medication you were taking, but a lot can happen in a year it
seems. My life has changed beyond recognition. My outlook on everything
is different, more positive, less selfish, and I owe most of it to the
hypnotic powers of those mountains. It's been a gradual change sure, but
the contrasts one can draw by comparing T.Bell circa 2009 to the
revised, updated and reduced-emissions model of 2010 are startling! A
bit like Nick Clegg really, only with slightly less hair.
There's
no doubt the long, harsh winter has been good for training. Thick snow
and often treacherous conditions have made the walks more gruelling and
challenging, and in a strange way - rather a lot of fun! But with the
short days and the sheer effort required for plodding up Helvellyn in
sub-zero temperatures through 2 feet of snow, one walk a week was as
good as it got. The changing of the clocks and the season has catapulted
the enthusiasm in to a whole new ball park and opened up many more
windows of opportunity.
Last week for instance, I had the pleasure of entertaining my good friend Niall whom I had not seen in nearly 6 years. So, I took 2 days of annual leave and on one of them I dragged him up Haystacks near Buttermere. Actually, as it transpired he was the one dragging me up as the shear fitness and stride length of this 6'4" monster of a Scotsman soon put any good work I had done to shame. It was only at 1500ft (the point that I'm normally doing my best Darth Vader with Bronchitis impersonation) that he confessed that one of his nicknames during his youth was "Mountain Goat". The sneaky bugger that he is! Good walk though nevertheless.
The next planned walk wasn't until the Sunday, however a very good friend and colleague of mine who shall remain nameless (although her name starts with a "D" and ends in "...eana Chesterton") had been making rumblings about my obsession, and was keen to see what all the fuss was about in "them fells". So, to satisfy her curiosity I took her on Saturday morning to my favourite short leg-stretcher, Helm Crag. She huffed, puffed but persevered through the initial cardio and physical shocks (see blog 2 for further details of expected symptoms) and once perched on the summit outcrop she had her "Epiphany". 24 hours later, and now armed with new boots, socks and breathable walking attire, she was accompanying my sister and myself up 2800ft of Blencathra's slopes, bouncing around like a spring lamb wired up to the mains. Another one converted then!
48 hours after that, and having spent a day in the Lakes on a training course, the pleasant evening weather drew myself, Vanessa and the afore-mentioned nameless colleague back up Helm Crag in an attempt to smash the previous set times for this particular ascent. Needless to say, they did it and what a wonderful feeling it was to be sat on the Lion and the Lamb feeling the last warm rays of the sun on our faces before it sunk gracefully behind the Langdale Pikes for another day.
So the fells are taking over all my spare time at the moment, but the addiction has gone so much further than just causing my television to gather dust. It's taken over my house!
My wardrobes and cupboards are now like the "rejects" store room of a Millets shop. Thick fleeces, thin fleeces, very thin fleeces, summer socks, winter socks, waterproof socks, winter gloves, summer gloves, breathable t-shirts - short-sleeved, long sleeved, zip-collar, no-collar, red, blue, black, green and orange! Walking boots, all over the house and woe-betide you walk in to them when your barefooted and heading to the loo with your eyes closed at 4am.
Today, 4 of the 5 walkers have been strolling around on the Helvellyn range. (We're down by one unfortunately folks, due to Hannah's work commitments which have prevented her from coming on the training walks, but she's still coming along to help with the driving. Bless you Hannah!)
The Wythburn ascent of this notorious mountain is a calf-cruncher, but a safe one. Most people however opt for the Striding/Swirral Edge ascent to the top. But we're trying our best to avoid any unnecessary dangers in our training regime. Helvellyn has claimed many lives over the years, and we're not about to add any more to it in the name of adrenaline.
The last 3 attempts of Helvellyn have been slightly frustrating affairs, mainly on the account that this magnificent summit chose to stay hidden in thick clouds and snow, and she stubbornly refused to give even the slightest, teasing glimpse of those white-knuckle/brown-trouser edges. Today however, the big man upstairs kept his Cumulonimbus collection well above the peaks so we were rewarded with a 360 degree panorama that made me speechless (yep, it is possible folks). And with the top reached with relative (and surprising) ease, we opted to head south down the ridge and take in 3 more summits as opposed to a quick descent back to the car park. Do remember to have the Ordnance Survey handy though if you're gonna go and do a bit of ridge-rambling. One slight mis-judgement with the internal compass, and one could find oneself miles off course. Been there, done that, got the blisters!
So, it's less than 6 weeks to go now! It's time to wake up and smell the gore-tex! Although, (and I think I can speak on behalf of the whole group here) I think we're ready now! We've got the drivers, we've got the equipment, we've got the fitness, we've even got the post-walk BBQ menu sorted down to the final detail, including which champagne will used to wash down the celebratory sausages at Snowdon's base. It starting to feel quite real now, and I love it!The justgiving page for Open Arms International has been updated with some more pictures and details of this fantastic charity, so please pop by and do remember to drop a few quid in won't you? Remember, every minimum £5 donation allows you to guess the time we actually take to complete the challenge, and the winner gets a luxury night stay in a Lake District Hotel with dinner thrown in for good measure. Once again, many thanks to English Lakes Hotels for their kind support, especially as they are lending us the company minibus for the whole trip!
Frustratingly, we're in a long, drawn-out paper trail with the second sight for Primrose House, but we're hoping to have it up and running before the challenge begins, so hold a few quid back for this one won't you?
Right, off for a bath now, I smell!
03/19/2010
Charity 3 Peaks Challenge: Making Time
English Lakes Hotels Charity 3 Peaks Challenge
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Saturday morning, 6.30am and the mobile phone laying on my bedside table, literally inches from my ear, starts omitting an irritating tune. It's that brief moment of confusion when your brain which has been rudely dragged away from a scrummy dream about Ferrari's and Ferrero Rochers has to make a quick decision - Is someone ringing me? Has there been a major family crisis? Or have I forgot to cancel the alarm? But then once I've realised that there's no such thing as a 4ft nut-covered chocolate and I own a Honda as opposed to a Maranello masterpiece, the reality sinks in. I did set the alarm for 6.30am!
Oh I remember now! I have a busy day ahead, and just 5 hours earlier after finishing a glass of wine and watching some DVD that I've probably watched far too many times already, I decided that the only way to get a walk in this weekend was to get up at the same time that the sparrow suffers its daily flatulence. I'm conscious that's the second time I have made reference to gastric/gaseous movements in my blogs, but hey, we're British! We love toilet humour! 30 carry-on films can't be wrong! I still say that "Carry on F**ting" would have been Pinewood's Studios most lucrative project, had it been made of course! The sight of Kenneth Connor clenching his nostrils and stating that immortal line - "Ooooh Matron, was that you?" and Barbara Windsor wearing nothing but a bikini and a World War 1 gas mask would surely have embedded itself in to Carry-on folklore! Ok, I'm digressing!
The day could have been so much easier, but as usual, I decided to make it difficult. In an annual tradition, I didn't post my Mother's Day card on time, so that meant a minimum 100-mile round trip to hand-deliver it. Well, I guess the latter "outcome" was the more loving/family-friendly option, so don't give me grief for being dis-organised. I could also have saved the walk until the Sunday, but on the basis that it was the first round of this year's Formula 1 championship, and woe-betide I miss that, it really wasn't an option. And then there was my commitment to help out a friend in Manchester who is making his first movie and rather bravely, he'd cast a part for me and planned to film my "VERY amateur debut" late Saturday afternoon and early Sunday morning. And then there was the haircut appointment at 3pm! (Granted that wouldn't take long!). So, the only way to make time for a walk in this hectic weekend schedule was to slot it in somewhere first thing on Saturday.
So, had I posted the card, watched the Bahrain GP highlights later on the iPlayer, and accepted another week of minimal hair-growth, I could have spent a satisfying, lazy morning on the sofa watching "Dave" (That's the TV channel, NOT my good friend from Manchester by the way!) I'd quite happily watch those back to back Top Gear episodes and I could probably even tell you what strange but hilarious anecdote will be used to introduce The Stig in that particular episode before Clarkson get's to do his "thing". Most of you now will be thinking "Sheesh Tim, Get A Life", but I'm betting that there's a small handful of you out there who are reading this and saying to themselves - "I'm glad I'm not the only one!" I digress! (Again!)
I have a new camera too, a digital SLR would you believe? (I think it was "SLR", could have been JCB or GTL though. No, hang on, that was a model of Renault wasn't it?) Anyway, I'm keen to try it out in the great outdoors. I spent about half an hour the night before carefully unpacking it from its layers of secure wrapping and then about 5 minutes reading the instruction booklet. 4 pages in to a 210 "introduction" book and I've lost the will to live. Surely this isn't necessary and all I need to do to produce a David Bailey classic is to simply aim and press one of these buttons? And there's so many buttons - Portrait, Landscape, Sport, Aperture, Wash, Spin, Mix, Dry! There could be tears and tantrums on the fells today!
My weekends used to start with a
cheese-drenched sausage sandwich with HP sauce, but that has since been replaced
with a fruit and nut muesli. Sure, it looks like the contents of your local
Spar's hoover bag, but its good for a slow release of energy through the
morning. So, it's a quick pack of the rucksack. The obligatory Prawn Sandwich on
Brown (well, I am a Manchester United fan after all), some Baxter's soup (go for
the butternut squash variety, it's delicious) and 2 bottles of lucozade sport in
the Camelbak - the definitive walking accessory by the way. And it's just
minimal clothing required this morning, as today's chosen peak (and the only one
I can possible cram in to a 3 hour window, including travelling time) is
Helm Crag, Grasmere, or known more affectionately as the "Lion
and the Lamb". At just 1329ft, this is a wonderful, easy-going fell. Yet it
was held in the highest affection by Wainwright himself, mainly because of the
spectacular topography and rock formations at its summit. This is definitely a
walk you can take the whole family, one for a late summer's afternoon, or in my
case, a deeply-satisfying early morning stretch of the legs. And with that
lunar-esque summit, a potentially great place for some piccies on the new
washing machine.....erm, I mean Camera!
I remember my first time up Helm Crag on a cold, autumnal afternoon
with waves of driving rain and sleet pounding my face. Back then it took me the
best part of an hour to reach the famous summit. This morning however, conscious
of my busy schedule, it takes me 28 minutes. Now, I'm not bragging here, and I
certainly don't ever want to be one of those people who make a big song and
dance about the fact they, for example "did Great Gable" in 70 minutes,
in blizzard conditions, with a sprained ankle, whilst carrying a 4-man tent, and
an 8lb baby on their back etc etc etc. You know the sort of person I'm talking
about here. If you've done something, they've done it quicker, bigger, more
expensive etc. There's a name for them I'm sure, but as this is a
family/eco/fox-friendly, non-bio blog I'll refrain from any further harsh
statements.
My point here is that with perseverance and regular exercise,
the difference in one's fitness can change dramatically. Don't get me wrong, I'm
not making myself out to be some kind of ultra-healthy freak here. I started
from a base level of fitness that could only be compared to a diabetic sloth,
with a thyroid problem. So, the only way was ever going to be up!
The
walk was as wonderful as ever, the clouds staying a couple of thousand feet
above the summits giving a me and the dozens of people already up here a crystal
clear panorama of central Lakeland. I'll not bore you with details of how the
photography project went. Needless to say, I think I need some personal tuition
and offers are most welcome. All other weekend objectives were met and I felt
content on Sunday night that I had made time. Time for my family, my friends,
for me, and more importantly for the 3-peaks challenge.
Speaking of
which, the first justgiving website for Open Arms International is up and
running.
The second site for our second chosen charity is going to take a little while
longer as we have to go through a long, drawn-out paper trail to get
Primrose House registered with justgiving and giftaid. So,
please donate whatever you can, but do leave a little bit back for
Primrose.
Training is going well for all parties concerned. Sarah's
training last week however seems to have swamped any efforts put in by the
others in the group. She's also training for a 10k run coming up soon in East
Yorkshire and has regularly been doing 5k's in the gym with the treadmill on
"ascent". This week however she did the full 10k on ascent, but is now battling
with some shin splints which have re-emerged to frustrate her. She'll persevere
though and I'm sure she'll stroll through both challenges with the minimum of
effort.
I must take this opportunity though to thank some people. The
facebook group members for their support, of which there are now 125 of them.
English Lakes Hotels for donating the competition prize (details of which are on
the justgiving page) and for publishing the blogs on their own website, my
sister for giving me the belief that I can actually do
this challenge, and of course the fellow 3-peakers for all their hard work and
effort so far.
Thank you for reading, thank you for supporting and let's all make a difference and raise money for our great charities Open Arms International & The Primrose Trust.
Tim & The 3-peakers
03/08/2010
Charity 3 Peaks Challenge: Sometimes, you just have to ask yourself "Why?"
English Lakes Hotels Charity 3 Peaks Challenge
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Saturday night, and it's the aftermath of another walk. This one felt a little different though to last week's disorientating snow-scramble up Helvellyn. Sure, it was fun, scenic, peaceful - all the usual stuff I look for in a good Lakeland Trek. But this one was......well......erm......kinda.....it's hard to put my finger on it. Oh, I've got it! It was "5 HOURS OF FEMUR-BENDING, PELVIC-ERODING, METATARSAL-MINCING TORTURE!"
So, before I go off on a random tangent and start waffling about today's
walk and the plight of the ozone layer, (and my colleagues and friends will tell
you that I REALLY can waffle! In fact, I waffle so much, I come with choice of 2
toppings), I guess I must address the question posed in the title of this
blog.
Well, I'll start with the physical side-effects first, and most of them, I
do warn you now, are not pretty! First and foremost, it's the pain! Starting in
your lungs, your ever-increasing pulse seems to accelerate wave after wave of
muscle-stretching anguish to every fibre and nerve-ending in your body. Granted,
I'm sure this doesn't happen to everyone, especially those "zero-fat" lunatics
who actually run up mountains for fun, but I think I represent the average
person here. I like a beer or two, enjoy a slab of red-meat when presented with
the opportunity. But the thought of spending my life looking like the character
from the pepparani adverts just to avoid mountain-induced pain isn't tempting!
And I'd probably be as angry as pepparani-guy if I ate the diet these guys
probably have to eat to stay that fit, and that thin! Leaves and moss probably!
The aches and pains can stay with you for days, the blisters even longer!
And for anyone thinking there's an ounce of glamour in this pastime, forget it!
You sweat....a lot! The journey upwards is a constant battle with the
perspiration ducts. You start off with 4 layers because you've checked the
weather forecast and it looks a little ropey. And then you start the
ascent.....and then you turn into an onion! Before you know it, you're peeling
off every sweat-drenched layer until you realise that you're actually walking in
your Damart thermal underwear, and let's face it, it's no Ann Summers is it? You
reach the summit, it's flippin freezing, so you put all the creased clothes that
have been crammed in to your woefully small rucksack back on again, along with
the obligatory woolly hat. And that hat will truly re-shape even the most rigid,
wire-like of hair do's. I'm fortunate not to have a well-stocked barnet, but I
have seen hair-styles on those mountains that could only be likened to the
aftermath of a Bonfire.......after the Fire Brigade have emptied 1500 litres of
water on it!
As for the call of mother nature, well, I think you can use your own
imagination there.
So, you're in agony. Your hair looks like a war-zone, you've tinted the
snow yellow in front of your sister, and you now have to put the washing machine
on before a rainbow forms above your laundry pile. So, I ask myself
again......"Why?"
Well, let's turn to the chemical argument, and by this I mean let's venture
into your frozen ear and dig deep into the grey matter. Here I'm glad to say, it
all starts getting a whole lot better. Let's talk neurotransmitters. Serotonin
is released with the elation and happiness of accomplishing a mountain peak. Not
just once, but probably every time you recant the story of how good it felt to
stand at the summit and gaze upon that fantastic view. No doubt the great
outdoors and 6 hours of sun exposure will produce melatonin which helps keep the
happy levels above any "danger levels" and avoid those winter "blues". And then
there's endorphins which are released when actually doing exercise. Again,
bringing about a natural "high" and a feeling of elation. In short, we're
starting to feel good.
So, you look like a dinner that the dog turned its nose up to, but hey,
you're happy! And that happiness stays so much longer than the aching muscles,
blisters and the sweaty/mossy aroma on your Berghaus fleece. Actually, that last
part is not true, so just deal with it and buy a can of lynx.
And then there's the "experience", and here I could waffle on for ever and
even add a third or fourth flavour to my toppings menu. Experiences evoke
memories, and they stay with you forever, and no bio-detergent is ever going to
shift them! The changing scenery, the skies, the weather - they all add to the
richness of the outing and gives you plenty of waffle-fodder for years to come.
It can be a hugely sociable experience, spending hours with a good friend or
family member with no interruptions so one can talk until your hearts content.
Today for instance we covered relationships, favourite foods and even the funny
side of flatulence. And that's quite a subject! You occasionally come across
other walkers, and what a smashing bunch of people they all are! Always up for a
chat, and happy to share the tales of the mountain, past and present. After all,
they are here for the same reasons you are. However, every now and again you
will come across a large group of walkers, all of them keenly strolling their
way across the baron, steep fellsides, except for the one person who's 60ft
behind them and by the look on their face (which can only be likened to a
clenched fist), one can tell that they would rather be gorging on a Bic Mac and
watching the Hollyoaks Omnibus on this fine Sunday morning. That person clearly
isn't enjoying the experience, and probably volunteered themselves for something
that sounded like a fun stroll in the park. But I'm sure they will still get the
"chemical" thing, and I bet they will be back for more.
But you don't even have to walk with someone to get these benefits. Many
people, myself included will take a solitary stroll, deliberately choosing walks
where I know I won't bump into dozens of fellow ramblers. Sometimes, you just
need a little "me" time, a chance to think and digest the worries of the world
and put life back into clear perspective. It's not uncommon to meet perhaps just
1 or 2 people over a 6-hour stroll over certain Lakeland peaks. And who said the
Lake District was congested?
I think I'm waffling now, but hopefully you get the picture. In short, it's
exercise, but in magical surroundings and who wants to hear about your 90-minute
treadmill work out?
So, I guess I should briefly cover today's walk for the benefit of our
anonymous solitary reader who wants to know. Well, today's route was, on paper,
a medium/hard walk taking in 4 peaks along the long Helvellyn range. However,
the Ordnance Survey didn't recognise the official route up to Calfhow Pike, and
I don't blame them. It was a full-on slog, with more silent swearing than I've
probably ever done before. I thought the west flank of Kirk Fell was tough, but
this was in a whole new ball park. Throw in some ice, constantly changing
temperatures and the knowledge that this ascent is only taking you to the lowest
of today's summits, and you've got yourself a classic ridge walk - a bucket load
of pain to get to the ridge plateau, then mile after mile of gentler, undulating
slopes which swallow up the "Wainwrights" effortlessly. Superb!
On a closing note, I see we're up to 81 members in our facebook group now
which is fantastic! I'm sure you've all got friends who would like to support
our group and its causes so please invite as many people as you can. We're
relying on you.
The whole group is meeting up soon to finalise details and really get this
thing in to top gear. We'll have our justgiving.com link up soon and also full
details on the fantastic competition where all people who donate get the chance
to guess the exact time it will take us to do the challenge, and possibly win a
superb prize!
Thank you for reading, thank you for supporting and let's all make a difference and raise money for our great charities Open Arms International & Primrose House Trust.
The 3-peakers
Charity 3 Peaks Challenge: It's got to start somewhere!
English Lakes Hotels Charity 3 Peaks Challenge
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So, it's the witching hour, March 3rd 2010 and yesterday I created a Facebook page for our 24-hour 3-peaks Charity Challenge. The initial over-excitable idea once flirted over a cup of tea with colleagues at work is now really starting to take serious momentum. Time to wake up and smell the Bovril Tim!
Blog 1, and I guess this first encounter should really tell you, the blog-reader (is there a "proper" term for them? If so, then please let me know because I really need to be kept on the straight and narrow with this type of thing!) where this whole crazy idea started and where it initially intended to go.Did I appreciate it back then? Well, maybe I did, but only as much as a kid or a teenager could ever expect to. Hey, my time was dedicated to BMX bikes, accumulating a music collection to annoy my parents, and staring endlessly at a poster of the famous page-3 girl, Maria Whittaker on my bedroom wall. But times moved on, and so did my career and years spent moving from county to county, from Berkshire to Perthshire, and several places in between.
But in winter 2003, I moved back to the North-west, to northern Lancashire, and for me, as close to my original home as I would probably like to be. I was nearer to my family, and my good friends in Manchester, and of course the county of my birth, and the beautiful district it holds so proudly in its boundary, like an artist clutching their definitive masterpiece.
During the years and my various career moves, the Lake District had grown in to something different in my mind, something to be proud of and brag about to colleagues, something familiar and yet mysterious. And here I was, back on its doorstep, and eager to forge a new relationship with it, minus the woggles, text books and acne of course.
The first 2 or 3 years were spent
re-discovering the lakes, mainly from behind a steering wheel I must confess
though! And then one september afternoon in 2007 whilst camping at Parkfoot on
the shores of Ullswater, I convinced Sarah Garton that we should take a casual
stroll up one of those ominously beautiful peaks. Armed with nothing but a
bottle of Evian and a Twix Bar (which were consumed within about 30 minutes), we
headed up the Glenridding ascent of Helvellyn. No stepping stones here then. Sod
the "Helm Crags" and "Haystacks", let's go for a full on attempt of Lakeland's
most notorious summit. Perhaps Wainwright was spot on when he said of this
mountain - "....it is the objective and ambition of the tourist who does not
normally climb". I think if the great man knew what "LOL" meant, he would've
probably slipped this annoying abbreviation in to his pictorial guides as a sly
dig at every man or woman who felt the pain this under-estimated mountain can
bring to the novice, wet-eared walker.
I'm not going to bore you with the gory details, but one can only describe that experience as an assault on every sense my body feels! "Shock and Awe" hardly seems strong enough in this instance. But this was a defining moment nonetheless, and it told me, in a language as blunt as the great Cumbrian dialect itself, that :- a) I love this place, and b) Thou's not in grand fettle Tim!
Two and bit years have now past since that sweat-drenched, lung-stretching, muscle-breaking, but more importantly - life changing day! Gone are the sleeveless Nike shirts, holiday shorts and market-leading chocolate bars. They have been replaced by Berghaus fleeces, Ronhill thermal layers, Camelbak ruck-sacs and Bananas. My love for the Lakeland mountains is serious, and to truly appreciate them, my attire had to step up to the mark too!
So when English Lakes Hotels announced it's commitment to Open Arms International at the same time I joined the board of trustees for Primrose House the answer to that ever-burning question - "How can I do my bit to help?" became as clear as a mountain-top view on a cloudless day! I've got to do the 3 peaks!
My sister had successfully done the challenge the previous year, but somehow I never felt I could rise to that kind of challenge. After all, she's been casually trotting up Sca Fell Pike and various other "Top 10" mountains for several years now! But my love of this pastime, combined with the desire to make a difference for those less fortunate than myself, led me to make a commitment. And now in my 30's, I really am conscious of my "101 things to do before I die", and this one ranks right up there with the best of them! And let's face it, who's gonna trust me with a Bugatti Veyron? Let's get realistic here!
So, here we are in March 2010, 3 months before the big "off", and we have now assembled a small but highly dedicated clan of 6 volunteers willing to give up hours, neigh, day after day of their precious free time to train hard, prepare, and actually "do" Britain's biggest mountain challenge.As I sit here now, I feel a multitude of emotions about the whole thing. I'm excited sure! But I'm also nervous and apprehensive. Dazed and confused, Motivated, but melancholy. Is this the usual cocktail of feelings a "3-peaker" experiences? Maybe, maybe not. But we're going to do it, and do it properly. We're going to raise money for two great causes. I'm in no doubt that despite how much training we do between now and June, we're going to go way beyond any physical boundaries we may have previously set as our tolerable limit. I'm sure there will be sweat, tears and blood, but hey, the latter doesn't bother me on the basis we have one of Britain's best paramedics in tow.
So, I'm conscious that this first blog has very much been "my story", but this whole thing isn't about me. It's about a group of volunteers, who have made a commitment to raise money for two great charities, doing something they love! Well, saying that, you'd find that statement hard to believe if you heard the foul language that can emit from one's mouth when tackling a particularly steep and frustrating mountain path. I get the buzz from reaching the summit, others in the group get there's from the adrenaline-fuelled rush of stretching one's physical limit. We're all different, we do different things, in different ways, in different places. But we are bound by our charitable goals and a love of the Lakeland mountains.
So, if you're still reading this, "Congratulations!" You're either our biggest fan, or more probably, you've got bugger all else to do and "Corry" isn't on tonight. Stay tuned reader!
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